


Post Zouis Smoking Video

by 89curlie



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Harry punishes Louis, M/M, Punishment, Slight Dom/Sub, Spanking, Zouis smoking video, aftermath of smoking video
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-29
Updated: 2014-06-25
Packaged: 2018-01-27 00:13:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1707770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/89curlie/pseuds/89curlie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens after Harry finds out Louis is smoking without his knowledge. </p><p>First chapter is the punishment.<br/>Second Chapter is Harry and Louis discussing it.<br/>Third Chapter is the day after.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The one with the punishment.

            “Did you really think I wouldn’t find out about this? You _promised_ me, Louis. No smoking. We made a deal! I cook and you’re clean. I know it was kind of a joke, but _really_ Louis? And to not even _tell_ me. Like you were just going to keep this all behind my back. Would you have ever told me if that video never got posted? Or would you have just kept me in the dark. Your fiancé, need I remind you. Fucking hell Lou, I’m so disappointed,” Harry finishes with a sigh. He has to look away from Louis. Knows if he continues looking, in search of answer, that he won’t like what he’ll see.

            “Haz, I’m sorry. It’s just – it’s harder to give up than you think. You knew it would be hard for me. And it’s not like I can come talk to you about it, because you’ll just get mad at me for doing it to begin with.”

            Harry quickly cuts him off with a glare. “I’d get _mad_ at you? No, you don’t get to make me the bad guy here. I did nothing wrong. I am your partner, Louis. That means I love you, that I am here for you, through the ups and downs, in sickness and in health. For you to say to my face that I would get mad at you for this is ridiculous. Stop acting like a child and take responsibility for your actions. You’re twenty two! You’re twenty two, and having your _management_ release a statement for you. You have a twitter, you can make a press conference happen. There are millions of people who look up to you Louis. And you are crying home to management so they can deal with it.”

            “Zayn’s not eith-” Louis begins, but is quickly cut off again by Harry.

            “ _Zayn_ ,” Harry says harshly, “is not getting off easily either. Perrie and I had a conversation earlier about this. It seems she is just as disappointed as I am. Not shockingly so, I must add. Also, again, your TWENTY TWO,” Harry repeats, raising his voice now. “You don’t need your younger band mate to make any of the above happen. For God’s sake Louis, you’re the oldest. Stop acting like a child. In fact I want you to go wait upstairs for me. Make sure to strip down first and sit patiently on the bed, _baby_ ,” Harry says, maybe putting a little too much emphasis on the word. “Go sit down and wait while the _adult_ in this relationship handles your messes.

            “Harry,” Louis begins, actually afraid of what is about to happen. He has never seen Harry this mad. Not when the press makes him the punch line of their article, or when a girl makes up some awful story about him. No, Louis has seen him get angry before, but he has never seen him this furious, and especially not at himself. “What-”

            “Louis, I’m completely serious right now. You march yourself up to our room and wait, like a good little boy, I can’t even look at you right now, I’m that disappointed in you. _Drugs_ Louis. Before a goddamned show.” Harry says in an ice cold, calm voice.

            “You’re not going to leave me, are you?” Louis says, the first tear making its way out of his eye.

            “No, Louis, no, I’m not going to leave you. Not in that way at least, I may have to go to headquarters for a little bit, but I’m not going to break up with you,” Harry says sincerely, finally taking pity on his fiancé. “Now go upstairs.”

            Louis is crying in earnest as he makes his way upstairs to wait patiently on the bed for Harry. Harry sighs as he watches him go. He slides his coat off. Having started yelling as soon as he entered their flat. He walks to the refrigerator and pulls out a bottle of water, taking a couple sips to calm himself down. He checks his phone to see if the unavoidable call from their management has come yet. It hasn’t. So Harry decides to take it upon himself and call them instead, knowing the other boys would not have done so yet.

            “Hello,” the receptionist greets when Harry’s call goes through. “This is Modest! how may I help you?”

            “Hey Liz,” Harry says, remembering the voice from previous exchanges. “This is Harry Styles, can you put me through to Richard please?”

            “Oh, hello, sir. I was actually just about to add you in to the call from them.” Liz says, in reference of Richard and Harry, their managers.

            “Harry, how are you?” Richard begins, getting the small talk out of the way quickly, so they can move on to the more pressing matters. “Great, great,” He continues, not even bothering for a reply. Harry, for once, doesn’t blame them, as he too, is waiting for what the next step is. 

            “How bad is it?” Harry questions.

            “Well, it’s definitely not good. Probably one of the worse things we had to deal with. I’m sure you’ve seen some of the fans reactions on twitter. Nothing too terrible. It seems, there is less of a problem with the drugs, than there is with the choice of words they use in the video.” Which – yeah – Harry had seen the video, agrees with the fans to a degree. The things they talk about was worse than the drug parts of it overall. That doesn’t excuse the drug thing though. Not really, not to Harry. He _promised_.

            “We decided, we would hold a press conference tomorrow. All of you will attend. Therefore, we can try to take off the attention from just the two of them. After some questions are answered by the two, we can then move in a direction that will promote some of the charity work Niall just did. Anyways, besides that, we figured we would have Louis and Zayn tweet out an apology. I know we’ve told them to hold off. That actually will be for the better, have people calm down, before they answer for their actions.”

            “Yeah, alright,” Harry agrees quickly, knows not to disagree with them when the band does anything stupid.

            “Nothing tonight though, we’re calling you all in for a meeting tomorrow morning at seven, before you have your press conference that is scheduled at noon. Things will be discussed in further detail then, yes?”

            “Yes.”

            “Thank you for calling Harry, I assume you will be able to pass this information on to Louis…?” They ask, knowing their relationship.

            “Oh, he’ll get it. Loud and clear. No worries there.” Harry says, apparently with enough coolness in his voice that they don’t even make some smartass comment about not telling him while they are having sex. “I have some things to attend to now, I’ll see you – _we_ will see you tomorrow,” Harry corrects quickly, “G’bye.”

            After he hangs up the phone, Harry moves into the kitchen. He decides to make casserole for dinner, knowing he will be able to just leave it in the oven for an hour, while he goes and takes care of Louis. He puts the oven at two hundred degrees Celsius. He’s quick to cut up the chicken in small, bite size pieces. Doing the same with carrots and celery. After he’s done with the prep work, he throws the carrots, celery, chicken, noodles, and a can of cream of chicken soup all into a glass dish. He puts a lid on the dish and is putting it into the oven as soon as it beeps signaling that the oven is warm enough.

            After he sets the oven for an hour and fifteen minutes, he is quick to take a flannel to the counters. Wiping up some drops from the can of soup as well as scooping up the carrots and celery that were able to escape from the cutting board into his hand. After he has finished cleaning off the counters, he goes to put the cutting board in the sink. He washes his hands, knowing he just dealt with raw chicken.

            Harry was going to originally go upstairs to Louis now, but decides he’ll keep him waiting just a bit longer while he washes the few dishes in the sink and sets the table. Once he deems everything acceptable – ready for them to just walk down and eat afterwards – he makes his way upstairs.

            He finds Louis sitting on the bed waiting patiently, with his head in his hands, looking down at the floor. As soon as he Harry’s footsteps, his head snaps up to where Harry is waiting in the doorway, just staring at him. His arms are folded over his chest, a sad look on his face.

            “We have a meeting with Modest! tomorrow. Seven. From there, we are all going to a press conference at noon, where you will answer some questions. Also, you will need to apologize on twitter. Not tonight though. We’ll all talk about it during tomorrow’s meeting. Now, as for tonight,” Harry says, finally stepping into room. He slowly lowers his hands so their balled into fists by his side. “You are going to get a sound spanking Louis, for behaving like such a child today,” Harry begins, not even bothering with beating around the bush. “You are going to get fifty, ten for each minute of the video. That seems fair, doesn’t it Louis?”

            “Is that really necessary?”  Louis questions. Louis can’t remember the last time he was spanked. Probably when he was eleven and brought a frog into his house, scaring his, then, four your old sister, Charlotte. “I know what I did was wrong, I’m sorry, but a spanking? I haven’t gotten one since I was a kid.

            “Precisely what you are acting like now,” Harry states, moving so he is sitting on the bed. “Now, lay across my lap and take this punishment like the adult I know you can be.” Louis hesitates, so Harry reaches across and pulls him across his lap. His bum is up in the air, right in front of Harry, while the rest of his body is stretched out on either side of Harry’s legs, resting on the bed.

            “Just to be clear Louis, this punishment is not for the drugs or the disrespectful things you said during the video. You will take care of that tomorrow. No, this is because you went behind my back, after you made me a promise. This is because you tried to blame this on me. We are engaged Louis, we don’t keep things from each other.”

            With that being said, Harry brings his hand down quickly on Louis’ already bare ass. “One,” Louis says, without being prompted. Harry wasn’t really expecting that, but he wasn’t going to stop him now. _Slap, Slap, Slap, Slap_. Harry alternates between the left and right cheeks, making sure both sides are getting an even distribution. Harry is fascinated by the red colour that is becoming of this. Not wanting to be distracted, Harry continues his assault quickly. Once he is half way through, Harry says, “Do you want to take a break baby?”

            Normally, Louis loves being called baby, suddenly, the word has begun to take on a new meaning. “I just want it over with,” Louis chokes out. Harry hadn’t even realized he was crying. Harry begins to take pity on Louis.

            “Alright, how about this, we’ll do just ten more, but then you have to stand in the corner like a good little boy, and think about what you have done. You will stay like that until dinner is ready.”

            “Okay,” Louis sniffles, glad he only has to go to thirty five and not fifty. Harry lets him calm down for a minute, before he continues with the last ten. Without warning, Harry brings down his hand. Ten quick slaps, alternating cheeks still, while Louis is writhing beneath him. Harry lifts his arm up from Louis waist, which he had to put there to keep Louis from rolling off him, and begins to lift Louis off of his lap. He stands them both up, and Harry wraps Louis up into his arms, careful not to touch his bum.

            “Alright, love, you handled that very well. Now, why don’t you lie on the bed for a quick minute on your tummy, while I go get some lotion to rub into back side? Louis can only nod and do as he is told. Harry steps into their bathroom and pulls out the lotion they keep in the top drawer. He steps back into their bedroom. Louis is laying on the bed with his right ear pressed to the side. He has is eyes closed, but Harry can still tell he has stopped crying. That’s good at least.

            Harry sits on the bed and squirts some lotion into his hands. He rubs soothing circles into Louis’ bum. Making sure to reach every spot. The coolness feels good against Louis’ burning skin, so he quietly relaxes into the bed. Harry finishes quickly and stands up again. “Alright, up you get. Go face that corner and don’t you dare think about moving until I come up and get you when dinner is ready.

            Louis nods and begins standing up. Before Harry can walk out of the room, however, Louis quietly says, “I really am sorry Harry. For hiding it from you, and for accusing you of stupid things.” Harry nods once and is leaving the room to go and check on the casserole, but not before turning around to make sure that Louis is, indeed, facing the corner. The casserole only has seven minutes left on the clock. Harry decides to use that time to make a grocery list for tomorrow.

            Once the oven beeps, signaling that the food is done, Harry is quick to take it out of the oven and dish it out on to two plates. He cleans out the glass dish it was cooking in and puts it on the drying rack next to the sink. He sets both plates on the table and fills to glasses up with some red wine before he goes back up and gets Louis.

            He’s standing right where he left him, and Harry knows, without even needing to ask, that Louis stayed exactly where he was supposed to be. Harry tells him to get dressed and come downstairs when he is ready. Five minutes later, Louis is coming down the stairs in his grey sweat pants and one of Harry’s white tee shirts.

            Harry is already sitting, waiting at the table for Louis. He gives a small smile to his plate when Louis winces as he sits. Yeah, he’ll be feeling that one for a couple of days, he's a little proud of himself. “Now, are you ready to be a grown up and talk about this?”

            Louis just nods his head and picks up his fork. He takes a bite of the casserole, dreading the impending conversation.  


	2. The one with the conversation.

“What causes you to still want to do them, the drugs?” Harry adds for clarification.

            “It’s not that simple Harry. It’s not just one thing, it’s so much. It’s the feeling of calmness, a way to relax before and after gigs. It’s the familiarity of doing it with Zayn all the time. It’s having to live up the pressure that so many people put on me and not being able to do that. It’s the addiction of the drug itself.” Louis looks helplessly around as he picks up another forkful of casserole.

            “Do you _want_ to quit doing drugs?” Harry questions carefully. Harry really wouldn’t know how to react if Louis didn’t actually want to quit doing the drugs himself. It’s not like Harry could force him to give it up, but Harry doesn’t know if he could even be in a relationship with someone who had to use drugs to get through a day. _Relied_ on drugs. Relied on them more than him.

            “Of course! Not just for you either, I want to stop for me! For our future children! For the band, for my mum. It’s just so hard, Harry. So hard.” Harry lets out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding as he looks around the kitchen for a minute, collecting his thoughts. Okay, that’s good news at least. He can deal with this.

            “How bad is it? Do you need to go to rehab, or…” Harry trails off, not knowing exactly how to deal with drug abuse. He’s never even tried the stuff, how was he supposed to know how to deal with this. Maybe he should call Zayn. Does Zayn even want to quit? What would Harry even do if his best friend was addicted? One thing at a time.

            “I don’t think so. Even if I do eventually need it, I think we should try other ways first. Take it one day at a time, instead of jumping into it, y’know? I wouldn’t look to good if a member of the biggest boy band is in rehab, now would it? Honestly, now that you know I’m still doing it, that’ll probably help. Like, I’ll be able to talk to you about it. I can come to you if I’m thinking of doing anything.”

            “I could help distract you!” Harry interjects.

            “Exactly! Not that I’m just using you for that, I love you Harry. First and foremost. I wouldn’t even need you as a distraction, just seeing you makes me want to stop doing the drugs.” Louis looks so genuine when he is saying it, too, is the thing.

            “If that’s true, why didn’t you just come see me to begin with, if you are so serious about quitting?” Harry asks curiously.

            “Well, to be honest Harold. I don’t know if I really wanted to quit as much back then as I do know. And although I said seeing you makes me want to stop, it doesn’t necessarily mean every time I see you, I just magically stop all train of thought on drugs. It’s complicated.”

            “What can I do, Lou? I just want to help.” Harry can feel the tears coming, his throat getting tighter in each passing second, knows he has to look away for a second or two. Louis reaches across the table, picking up Harry’s hand with both of his own hands.

            “Baby, baby, look at me,” Louis says soothingly, rubbing his thumb on the palm of Harry’s, trying to coax him into looking back at him. It takes another moment, but eventually Harry does turn back to a concerned looking Louis. “This isn’t your fault Harry. You are not going to be able to fix it yourself. It’ll take time and effort. There will times where I am going to relapse and we are going to argue, but Harry, I will always love you and by some miracle, I believe you will always love me.” At this point, Harry starts nodding along slightly.

            “I just can’t help but think I did something wrong. I mean, we’re supposed to know what is going on in each other’s lives. I had to try and explain to my mum how I had no idea you were doing drugs. Do you know how hard that was? How do you explain to someone that you don’t know what your fiancé did during the three years we have been together?” Harry feels a tear slip down his face. He looks down, not trying to make Louis feel bad. His shoulder still shake though with the silent sobs he is emitting and Louis is quick to catch it.

            “Love, oh, Love,” Louis says, getting up out of his chair to make his way around the table. He kneels down beside Harry’s chair. Louis brings his hand up to Harry’s cheek and turns his face towards him. He swipes his thumb across Harry’s cheekbone to get rid of the fallen tears, doing so quickly with his other cheek after. Louis wraps his arms around Harry’s neck, pulling him down slightly, giving him a tight hug. “I’m so sorry, Harry. I promise, I’ll stop. Forever and ever. That’s what we are promising each other in a couple months, right? I promise, right now, I promise I will never, ever, touch drugs once I am married to you. That’s my goal. To be a hundred percent clean by our wedding. Three months? We can do this – I can do this. I promise. I’m so sorry,” Louis adds again, once he feels another sob shake through Harry’s body. “So, so sorry.”

            After another couple of minutes, those Harry needed to calm himself down, Louis goes back to his side of the table. He begins to eat again, but not before taking Harry’s left hand in his left hand, so they are still able to eat. “Look, Louis. I love you, you know I love you. Now, like you said, I know this isn’t going to magically fix itself over night. We will have our up and downs along the way, but I really think we can get through this. Our weddings in three months, if you can be one hundred percent clean by then, great, that would mean so much to me, but I’m willing to give you a year. One whole year from now. From then on though, if I ever find out you are going behind my back and doing drugs again Louis, I will be asking for a divorce. I don’t want to, you know I don’t want to, but I will never be okay with you doing them. You know that, yes? It will pain me just as much, but I need to do that.

            “But it’s like I said,” Harry continues, “I really do you be able to get over this, we will do everything in our power to fight this. Did I mention I love you? I just really want you to get better, baby.” Harry stops his rant quickly, takes a deep breath and looks up into Louis’ eyes. Harry doesn’t really know what he was expecting to find there, doubt, maybe, or even anger for Harry bring up divorce before they are even married. However, looking into the deep blue eyes he has memorized over the past couple of years, he still only finds love and a hint of fondness. Harry smiles a little bit at the look, which Louis returns with an even bigger smile. Louis’ smile only causes Harry to smile back even brighter than before, since this is the first time they smiled since Harry came home.

            Louis lets out a little giggle. “I’d hate to know what Zayn is going through right now,” Louis says trying to lighten the mood. Louis drops Harry’s hand so he can eat easier.

            “Actually, probably something similar to what I did to you,” Harry says winking. “I actually just came from a lunch and shopping date with Perrie,” Harry blushes slightly. “She called me up after she saw the video, wanted to talk to me about it. It turns out her and Zayn kind of have a bdsm kink, I guess. ‘S why she called me. Apparently Zayn is the dominant one, usually, so she was wondering how weird it would be if she took that spot for a night. It’s kind of how I got the idea. She was going to take it to another level, though, so yeah, you got off easy…” Harry trails off, too embarrassed to continue with what his best friend and fiancé get into in bed.

            Louis lets out a loud guffaw and Harry just knows that Louis plans on giving Zayn crap about it tomorrow. Maybe Harry shouldn’t have told Louis about that, but, well, maybe it could be Harry’s way to take out some of his anger with Zayn. Who’s he kidding, he won’t be able to hold any more of a grudge over Zayn, so he pretty much has to be okay with how it will turn out tomorrow.

            “Just one more thing, Lou,” Harry says after Louis’ laughter has died down. “I just need to know, how long _have_ you been doing this behind my back?”

            Louis face quickly turns serious as he looks back down at his last couple of bites on his plate. “Well, um, you know how we made that deal the first week we started dating?”

            “Yeah, about three years ago now…” Harry replies cautiously.

            “I was clean for about a week and a half after that, and since then the frequency in which I do it has increased up until now.”

            “Bloody hell! Our whole relationship? You have been doing this behind my back for our whole relationship? God, and Zayn even knew! He knew we made that promise and he didn’t even tell me. Did everyone know, were you all making fun of me behind my back at how naïve I could be?” Harry could feel the anger seeping back into his bones, knows his face is getting red.

            “I told Zayn not to tell you, don’t blame Zayn for that one.”

            “I’ll blame whoever I want to, thank you very much.”

            “Niall knows, but he doesn’t know how frequently, just caught me and Zayn once, blazing up after a concert one time in the bathrooms. I didn’t exactly tell him _not_ to tell you, but it’s Nialler. He’s not going to tell a fly. He tends to stay out of other people’s business. Can’t be mad at him for that, can you? Liam,” Louis pauses, as if trying to think back to know if Liam ever found out about Louis smoking behind Harry’s back. “Liam never found out, I don’t think.”

            “Well, at least I can count on one of you. Fuck! How could I not have noticed! I do the laundry, how did I not smell it?!”

            “Well, I tried hiding it, by dowsing my cloths in cologne, plus you are so trusting Harry.”

            “Of course I am! I had no reason not to be until now!”

            Louis at least has the decency to look guilty at this point. Harry’s had enough though. He pushes back his chair and stands up, heading towards the door after getting his keys. “I’m heading over to Liam’s place. My only true friend.”

            “Harr–” Louis shouts after him, but he is cut off by the slam of the front door in his face.

            That night, when Harry gets back, the table is cleared and the dishes have been done, something he usually does, but isn’t too surprised to find that Louis has done it. Afterall, it’s not like Harry gets this mad at him. Louis has some groveling to do.

            He walks upstairs to their room and finds Louis getting into bed. Louis looks up as he enters, not saying anything, almost waiting to see how Harry will react. Harry takes off his clothes from the day, and walks over to the bed. He grabs his pillow and a spare blanket from their closet.

            “Where are you going?” Louis asks like a little kid, on the verge of tears again. If Harry wasn’t so angry, he would feel bad.

            “I’m sleeping on the couch. Don’t want to be in the same bed as you tonight.” Harry says rigidly and begins walking to the door.

            “I’ll take the couch! You take the bed!” Louis says quickly. After all, he was the one who messed up.

            “No thanks, I don’t want to sleep in our bed, if you aren’t there with me.” Harry is quick to walk out of their room at that point, finally letting himself cry that day. That night, is the first night, that Harry and Louis spend sleeping in different rooms under the same room since they started dating those three years ago. Needless to say, neither of them sleep very well. Though, that may have to do with the imposing day looming over them.


	3. The one with the press conference.

Harry awoke to his alarm on his cell phone. He blindly reaches out to shut it off, but quickly sits up, startled as to why his phone wasn’t on the dresser next to his bed. It took him a second after to realize that he slept on the couch. He stretches his arms above him, cracking his back successfully. He takes a couple seconds to look around the room, getting his thoughts together. After that, he stands up and begins making his way upstairs to his and Louis’ bedroom.

            Louis is already up when he enters the room. Looking through the closet to locate an outfit for today’s events. Harry takes a deep breath and clears his throat. Louis turns back around so he is facing Harry, his eyes are red and Harry can’t tell if it is from lack of sleep or from crying. “Is it alright if I take a shower first, or do you want to?” Harry asks Louis after a minute, after he realized that Louis wasn’t going to say anything.

            “That’s okay, I’ll go make brekkie for us. Are eggs okay?” Louis voice is all wrong. Small, like a child. Hesitant. Not the boisterous, on-the-verge-of-laughing voice Harry loves so much. However, now is not the time for arguments. They have a big day ahead of them, bigger things they need to worry about at the moment.

            The rest of the morning is spent in awkward silence. Tiptoeing around each other, both hoping for the other to say something, but each too cowardly to try themselves. Luckily enough for them, they are out the door rather quickly and into the awaiting car.

            Upon their arrival at the Modest! Management Head Quarters, they were rushed into the building one by one, while their security detail held back the hordes of paparazzi waiting for them. Once they were in the safety confines of the building, they were shown upstairs to the room they were meant to find the other members of their group. The three remaining members give both Louis and Harry a slight nod as they enter the room.

            “Hello, boys. I’m sure you all know why we are here today. No point in dwelling, let’s just jump right into this thing, shall we?” Harry, their manager, says gesturing for them to take a seat in one of the awaiting seats in front of his desk. Louis begins walking to the end chair on the left, his usual seat for when they are called into meetings like this. Normally, Harry would be seated directly on his right, but this morning, Harry moves to the seat all the way on the right. After a second of hesitation from Liam, who usually sits there, he takes the seat next to Harry. Zayn, whether for moral support, or some other reason, takes the seat next to Louis, leaving the middle spot for Niall.

            The execs, who had been looking down at some papers on their desks, glance up once they hear that the movement has stopped. Richard Griffiths opens his mouth to begin talking, but pauses once he notices Harry and Louis weren’t sitting together, a first since they started dating. He restarts quickly though, since he is a professional.

            “Alright, let’s get started shall we? We have been closely monitoring social media, since the video has leaked. I’m sure we all know what video I’m talking about, yes?” After a quiet murmur of agreement from each member, Richard continues, “Luckily for you guys, it seems your fans are _very_ loyal. Even the parents seem to be fifty-fifty split. Of course a lot are saying you need to be better role models, but a surprising amount seem to be sticking up for you, or at least ignoring it, saying that there is much worse things that you guys could be doing – half of them saying they themselves have done worse. There is a picture of a girl burning her ticket, but that seems to be the only one.

            “Now that you are caught up with what is in the news, we’re going to discuss how we’re going to handle this. Now guys, we know you hate when we do media training, but please at least _try_ to retain some of these answers. At the very least, please try to keep the general idea of how to answer certain questions. We have to do some serious damage control, and quickly. We don’t need anyone making things worse, even though we know you guys wouldn’t mean to.

            “With that being said, you guys have mentioned to us that you want to try and attract a larger audience, and although this wasn’t our Plan A going about it, we are going to use it as our Plan B to hopefully do just that. So, let’s jump right on in to this. First things first, you are going to start off by apologizing Zayn. Keep it simple and concise. Just a ‘We’re very sorry for not being the role models we hoped to be. We apologize to everyone and especially our fans for disappointing you, and especially for doing it before a gig. With that we would like to put this behind us and move on with our stadium tour.’ After this, we don’t want any more apologies. Louis, if you want to throw in a joking, like, ‘ditto,’ or something, that’s okay, but nothing after that. Like we said, we want to move to an older audience. Understand?”

            “Yes, sir,” Louis says. The usual sarcastic undertone isn’t there though, which is surprising enough. Even more so though, he sounds a little empty. Everyone in the room knows that has more to do with Harry being on the opposite side of the room, than the leaked video, if the look Louis shoots in Harry’s direction is anything to go by.

            “Alright, with that being said,” Harry Magee begins, we don’t want you to be complete knobs out there either. Be smart about this, yes? Now, we will open up the floor for questions. We don’t want to look like we are hiding anything. While we encourage you to answer as many as you can, I’m sure there will be a couple that we will have you avoid if we think there is no way to answer it without digging yourself in a bigger hole.

“So in the beginning it’s pretty much about the apology. Everyone is going to be looking for the big apology, which is why we see no reason to prolong it. Just get it over with, y’know? Then, we are going to have you lads answer some questions from the floor. After some questions have been answered, we are going to have you guys talk about the tour again, start steering the press conference away from the video. You can talk about the tour, or how incredibly thankful you are. We especially encourage you to mention Niall’s charity game. That will get us bonus points in looking like good role models again. Then after that, we are going to do maybe a handful of more questions in hopes that they won’t be about the video. If they seem to be about other things than we will let you continue in answering them. After that, you guys are going to be dismissed.”

“In summary,” Richard continues, “You’re going to apologize, answer questions, diverge their attention, more questions, and leave. It should be pretty easy and painless. Do keep your poise if rude comments are thrown your way. I’m sure there will be a couple, but you are all so good at ignoring them, let’s keep that up, shall we? No sassy remarks Louis.”

“Now, I don’t know what is going on with you two,” Richard gestures between Harry and Louis, “but get your act together. We are going to have you sit together. This way it seems like Harry is being the supportive best friend in a tough situation. Makes it seem more real. We want Harry on the end, then Louis and Zayn in the middle, followed by Niall than Liam. That is not up to discussion,” he continues after seeing Harry about to protest. “We have bigger problems on our hand than you having a problem with your boyfriend.”

“Fiancé,” Louis reminds them offhandedly, like he is used to them forgetting. Not that they ever could, it’s hard to forget that two members in their biggest group on the label has two gay members in it. It’s more like, by not mentioning that dreaded word, they don’t have to believe it’s a reality.

“Beside the point. Do you have any questions before we send you off to hair and makeup for the press conference?” Then, after a short pause, “Great, do remember lads, we will be there with you today to help with any problems.” It sounds just as ominous as it was meant to.

After about an hour, or so, of the five of them going and getting their hair and makeup done by Lou, they head over to the place in which the press conference will be held. Harry, although still not speaking to Louis, takes his dutiful spot next to Louis as the camera flashes go off. At this point, Louis is at his wit’s end. He has never gone this long without speaking to Harry. Has never had Harry not give him that fond look he has grown used to. Louis had gone over to Harry while Liam was talking to Niall, and Zayn was getting his hair done, trying to make the conversation as private as they could with a dozen people in the room. He tried to get Harry to talk to him again, but Harry was having none of it, opting to go over and have a laugh with Liam and Niall instead.

Sitting in front of the table though, Louis knew he would have to wait a couple more hours before he could try again. He was just hoping that would be enough time for Harry to forgive him. After the initial commotion that always starts up when a press conference begins – cameras going off, reporters shouting questions at them even though they have all been previously told that questions won’t be until after the beginning statement, their press team coming in and shushing everyone while they take their respective seats off to the sides – Zayn begins his opening statement.

“Hello everyone, unfortunately we appear before you today after me and my bandmate shared a rather risqué headline yesterday,” Zayn says, turning his head slightly towards to Louis, before continuing. “We would like to sincerely apologize for the video that went up yesterday. We are absolutely gutted that we let down our fans and their parents. We try hard to be good role models for everyone and we sometimes fall short. We try so hard to just be normal lads that we forget that little kids look up to us. It was unprofessional of us to do that before our performance. Again, we do apologize.”

If Louis was in his right state of mind, he would make some witty comment about the situation, but as it were, his mind is too focused on Harry’s tight set of his jaw, then on Zayn’s scripted apology. Liam, being the calm one he is, asks if there any questions.

“Was this just a public scam to try and increase the age of your audience?” The first reporter asks.

“If you are asking if we purposely posted the video in hopes to get rid of some of the younger fans, you are wrong. We value all of our fans from the age of one to a hundred. We would never do _anything_ to get rid of fans. They got us to where we are now,” Niall answers quickly, giggling at the end at the where we are pun he through in.

After some laughter from the audience a second reporter is standing up to ask another question. “Already, there has been backlash from the fans, some even burning their tickets in betrayal, what would you have to say to these fans?”

“I saw that, yeah,” Harry begins in his low voice. “It’s quite a shame. We try to give our fans such great experience on and off stage. Unfortunately, we screw up sometimes – make mistakes. It pains me that people are missing out on that experience from our dumb mistakes. I can’t blame her for choosing to do that. She was disappointed in us. We deserve that. We are all just so glad that it seems like the majority of our fans can find it in their hearts to forgive us for those mistakes and continue their loving support. We would be nothing without them.”

Louis really hates how calm Harry is being right now. Hates that he is tearing himself up on the inside, but Harry can still give perfect answers to the press like it is any other day of the week for him, not like he is in the middle of an argument with his soon to be husband.

“We really do owe them a lot, it seems like just yesterday we were getting put together as a band,” Liam continues. “Now here we are playing sold out shows at _stadiums_. The fans are amazing. We get to do such crazy things because of them. We had just got to release a movie and we are already in the makings for a second one. I, we, are so grateful that our fans stick with us through these tough times,” Liam says, doing his job to steer the press conference in a different direction, away from the video. Richard is quick to say, “The boys will be answering a couple more questions before they have to leave to get ready for their show tonight.”

“Louis, I’ve noticed you haven’t said anything this morning. Do you have any remorse for what you have done?”

Although Louis can see Harry Magee standing up from the corner of his eye, ready to stop the question, Louis powers through, just desperate to get Harry’s attention. After a quick sideways glance towards Harry, he begins, “Of course. I’ve let down the fans, I’ve let down my band mates, my family. I was a twat in that video. It’s hard being under this much pressure at this age, and I’m not using that as an excuse either. I genuinely do feel bad that I’ve lad down so many people, but if there is one thing I’ve learned from the start, we need to let all the bad stuff go as quickly as we can so it doesn’t drag us down. Let me tell you though, there is no one who I hate disappointing more than my fiancé,” and before the crowd can react to that bombshell Louis continues, “He gave me a quite a piece of his mind last night. That’s why I love him, he keeps me in place.” Louis knows he is outing himself right now, but Harry has wanted to be out for a while now and why should _management_ get in the way of what Harry, and by extension, himself, wants? “Did you Harry?” Louis finishes turning to the boy in question.

Well, they wanted a distraction. If this isn’t good enough Louis doesn’t know what will be. Louis knows he is going to be regretting this in a couple minutes when he has to face Harry and Richard, but right now he is only focused on Harry’s reaction. Louis is glad to see, that after the initial shock, Harry is slowly smiling and turning to him. The fond look has made its reappearance and he is reaching out with his hand to grab ahold of Louis’. After a quick kiss between the two, they are rushed off the stage by their managers before any more questions can be asked.

While they do get a sever yelling at before their concert, Louis can’t really regret it after all. He has his fiancé’s hand grasped firmly in his the rest of the day up until they step on stage. Harry still barely speaks to him for that time, too, but at least this time it is because his tongue is busy doing something with Louis’ than because of hatred.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys, I had tried posting this weeks ago, but something must have gone wrong in the process. I wouldn't have even noticed had it not been for my sister asking for me to post the final chapter. Next time, someone needs to speak up. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the final chapter. Kind of a crappy ending, but I didn't really no what else to do... Maybe someday I'll come back to it and add an actual ending. 
> 
> Sorry!

**Author's Note:**

> Any Kudos and especially comments would be appreciated. Hope you enjoyed. :)


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